Well, it was a 5km racewalk, and as a result of the humidity, my cold which stubbornly refused to desist and my brain which doesn’t like to stay in Reality for too long, so I didn’t do as well as I wanted. But I didn’t come last, so I was very happy with that.

Now what…

Oh, drawing!

I sketched a picture of Mhyrandah Atlys on the way home. If you don’t remember, she’s a character in the story I’m writing. I mentioned her in a previous Weekly Writing Challenge, see.

Anyway…

It’s only a sketch, but seeing as I have time on my hands, now it’s holidays, I might do a better quality one, done on my iPad.

Let me know, nonexistent readers, if you’d like to see it. By the way, I haven’t seen Daniel as of late. Not too sure where he is…

Yes, you can see why I laughed when I saw this challenge. How many characters do I have in my brain? Millions most likely. Lots and lots of people just waiting to get out. Daniel’s already left his cage.

However, I don’t want to talk Delirium or its Delusions today. I’d rather talk about a character in my story. Actually, I’ll talk about two characters.

The first is already an adult. I’m going to make her nearing her 30s. Her name is Mhyrandah Atlys, and she is on a quest to win her throne from her incompetent cousin. The Atlyses are an old family, centuries old, and they’re a very proud family, which is understandable, for they are the monarchs of the kingdom. But they are also a very wise family, they recorded the stories of old, events from the past, along with ideas about religion, science, even technology. The Atlyses are what brought civilisation back on track, after an event known as The Blast came about, killing about ninety percent of the population of the Earth. A lot of the knowledge of the Earth was destroyed, but the Atlyses managed to help humanity recover, with them as leaders.

As an Atlys, Mhyrandah knows many things about the history of humanity, including The Blast. She even has dreams of humanity in the past. She’s very weary about religion, seeing it as something which suffocates you and tries to control you, and her cousin Alexiyos uses religion and the belief that women cannot rule as his justification for claiming the throne. It’s her knowledge of the past that drives her, she knows that women can rule, and that she is a more worthy ruler than Alexiyos. She’s quite witty, and a quick thinker.

But despite her intelligence, Mhyrandah doesn’t understand people very well. She’s very used to having things her way, and compromising with people she’s not close to is difficult for her. She leaves negotiating to her companion, Isybelle, who is a skilled politician in her own right. She clashes with people easily without Isybelle to intercept. As well as being unable to compromise, Mhyrandah dislikes it when people make her look like a fool. She intensely hates criticism and she hates anyone who thinks wrong of her.

Which brings us to Character Two.

Mhyrandah marries in the story, and she has two stepchildren. Of a sorts. They’re illegitimate children, but she chooses to have one legitimised, just in case she doesn’t provide the kingdom with an heir.

That child is not the one I’m going to talk about.

It’s his sister.

Kassya Sylver, also known by her “bastard name”, Sylverlace, is the illegitimate daughter of Jharron Huntyr. She’s the opposite of Mhyrandah, she doesn’t mind religion, though that is probably because her religion and that of Mhyrandah’s people are completely different, and she is willing to negotiate with people. Unless, she doesn’t like them. And Mhyrandah’s stubbornness and self absorbed nature rubs Kassya the wrong way.

She understands people a lot better than Mhyrandah does, and when Mhyrandah becomes Queen, Kassya begins to study the politics of the court, and she begins to earn a name for herself. With help from her father, she is soon allowed to learn from the Atlys Files, paying particular attention to philosophy. Her new education and natural curiosity leads her to question the logic behind Mhyrandah’s policies, which of course, leads her to butt heads with Mhyrandah.

Kassya has flaws too though. She has a strong reckless streak, and though a lot of it is motivated by self preservation, she has moments where she acts out of carelessness and mischievous. It’s particularly noticeable at the beginning of the story, though it becomes more concealed later. This is what brings Mhyrandah to initially dislike her, though she puts up with her, until Kassya begins to disagree with Mhyrandah’s actions and she goes full blown evil-stepmother on her. She has her own type of stubbornness, like Mhyrandah, though the difference is that Mhyrandah is adamant about having her way, while Kassya has strict ideas about what is right or wrong.

I find that these two characters are very similar, despite their interactions with eachother. Mhyrandah and Kassya are both eager to learn, and are strong people, who refuse to back down from a challenge. They also want recognition for themselves, though in different ways; Mhyrandah wants to be Queen and Kassya wants to be legitimised, not so she can inherit the throne, but so she is acknowledged as her father’s daughter. They’re also strong speakers, though Mhyrandah can deal better with planned speeches and Kassya is able to hold herself in an argument.

The main differences, I think, between the two is that Kassya is far more resilient than Mhyrandah, and Mhyrandah has far more power than Kassya. Which leads to Kassya irritating Mhyrandah, Mhyrandah ‘punishing’ Kassya, Kassya criticising Mhyrandah and Mhyrandah getting angry and ‘punishing’ her again.

And the cycle continues.

The story is only folding out in my head at the moment, so this explanation is not as clear as I would like it to be. But here are two of the characters in my head, Mhyrandah Atlys and Kassya Sylver.

Suck on that, Daniel.

Obviously, there are far more characters than Mhyrandah and Kassya, but I’ll save those for another time. And no, the plot line where Mhyrandah takes the throne will not be the whole focus of the story. The main plot line is a whole lot darker…>:)

Anyway, time to go to school, just came back from therapy which was so desperately needed.

So I had made a promise to post the prologue of my story thingymajinky, so I’m going to that today. I’ve been making a lot of notes, because I’m making my own world, and I’m designing everything.

As if I didn’t already have enough worlds….

At the moment, I’ve just been sketching the places and people, and hopefully I’ll be able to post them on here soon. I’ve also had a lot of fun designing the clothes that they would wear, and since I’m doing Materials Design next year, I might be even able to make them.

Yeah right! :p But it would be a fun challenge.

Anyway, here’s the prologue, I’ll see you at the end.

How many stories had she heard as a girl, warning her of the dangers of the forest at night? How many tales of children being eaten and maidens getting murdered had she listened to? Far too many, she had to admit. She enjoyed frightening stories, because they were the ones that made the other girls scream.
As a branch scratched her arm with a sharp finger, she wondered if the inventors of those stories had been in the same woods as she. It was identical to the pictures painted in books; ink black night only illuminated by the moon, monstrous trees which would eat you if you fell asleep under them, and the menacing silence which threatened to drive you to madness.
It would appear that the silence had come too late then.
She stumbled, and the forest ground tore her knee again. Cuts and bruises are the least of my worries, she thought. I’ll endure a million. A billion, before I die by that hand.
The now familiar pains flooded her head again, and she couldn’t move another step. She crumpled to the forest ground, tears streaming down her face. End this, she pleaded the creatures that weren’t there. Please!
As the outlines of the trees became blurred, she felt a sense of dread wash over her as she realised her hunger was returning. A hunger for the drink of life. A hunger for scarlet.

She laced it tighter, trying to squeeze all the air out of herself, so the pain would leave.
Cloth of violet blue, embroidered with pearls which gleamed in the light. But as beautiful as the gown was, she could take no joy in it. That monster’s eyes were violet, the one that nearly killed her. And it was still out there. Waiting.
She tread toward the window, slowly, in case a nightmare jumped out in front of her. None came, but as she looked out onto the village, there they were. Monsters, everywhere.
Another would die today. That was what she had been told before rest the night before. Once, she had learnt about all the lives of the monsters, so some part of them remained in this world once they left it. She’d spent too many hours dwelling over the lives of a young mother, a knight of her own guard, even a lady of the court had turned.
It didn’t matter now though, who these people were, how they lived their short, miserable lives. Their faces all blended together, they were all twisted and mutated and monstrous. It didn’t matter who they were, because when they were lead out to die, the only face she was capable of seeing was his.
The roar of pain from the father…the hysterical sobbing from the sister… The death had brought chaos and destruction to the land. But the fire would burn it all away.
With that, she tore off the evil gown, with the horrible violet eyes, and threw it upon the roaring fire. It caught alight quickly, and blue became black, and the bright flames feasted on the dress before her eyes.What did he think, she thought, when the stake was driven into his chest? Did he live long enough to feel the flames burning at him? That was her greatest torment. She swore, she would watch a million monsters die to know what was running through his mind.

A bottle of wyne lay beside him, rolling across the cabin floor. It tasted more of piss than wyne, if he were honest, but he’d take it.
His head knocked against the wall again. Excellent, he thought. He could use a couple of hours in a drunken slumber. Thinking was bad. Thinking lead to horrible things, he’d seen that much.
He’d lost everything. He’d lost his children, his wife, and his pride had deserted him the minute he ended up on this boat to the middle of nowhere.
His head blurred, and he felt the warm, comfortable sense of unconsciousness drown him.
A minute after sleep found him, he was shaken awake. “Fuck off,” he growled.
“The lords want t’see yer,” a voice stinking of ash told him. “Good news, they said.”Fuck… He stumbled up, and staggered out the door. What had happened the last time he heard the words ‘good news”? He chuckled to himself without humour. He’d see what they wanted now. The quicker it was over with, the faster he could get back to his drunken stupor.
“Morning to you too,” they remarked when they saw him. Their matching blue eyes weren’t angry or mocking, though they should be. They were pitying. For some reason, that was felt even worse.
One of them grabbed his legs, and lifted them over his shoulders. He swore loudly, and hit at the other, as they lifted up the other half of his body. “It is time,” the lord said, ignoring his shouts and curses, “for you to either sink or swim.”
With one swing, he was thrown into the air, and he fell down towards the water.

He should’ve been used to corpses by now, but, like the idiot he was, he still felt a chill go down his spine when he saw them.
Why did he put his life in the hands of this stranger, who, quite frankly, was far more worrying than the prison. It wasn’t just the fact that the majority of the guards were dead, most likely by this one’s hand. He was quite certain that this…this…
“Excuse me, but are you a man or a woman?” he asked the stranger.
A low chuckle came from them. He couldn’t hear any note that distinguished them as either sex. Maybe they didn’t have one, perhaps he should refer to them as it.
It would be suicide to leave through the front gates of the prison, so the stranger lead the way to the sewers. Upon reaching the drainage, they raised a gloved hand, indicating for him to go down first. Warily, he obliged, and slid down the pipe.
He was surprised to see a torch in these sewers. Who could’ve left that here? There was still a little flame coming from it, giving him enough light to see around him. There was even more blood in the sewers than in the actual prison, he noted. The filthy water he was standing in reached his knees, there was a red tinge to it. He hated to think how many other corpses were there.
With another splash, he heard the stranger join him. He turned around. Had no one left that torch, he would be blind, but now he could see it’s true form.
“Should’ve guessed,” he said aloud.
The stranger grinned in the dark, and raised a finger to their lips. “Shhhh.”
Was it threat or warning? He didn’t know. He was an idiot, and idiots knew nothing. Except to follow. He had enough sense to know that he could either die here, in bloody waters, or follow this stranger, who had killed those guarding him, and may well kill him too,
Sheep to shepherd, he followed the shadow into the darkness.

Please let me know how this is in the comments, I’m trying to write more creatively, and if it’s good, I’ll probably post more of it. But in this stage it’s a work in progress.

1- Cat is left at home all day, by herself, which often leaves her feeling depressed/friendless.

2- Being depressed/friendless is usually what makes Daniel pop up. Which is wonderful.

3- Cat is unable to eat, because she can’t keep anything down. And hunger leads to bad moods, and bad moods often leads to grumpy Cats.

4- Her family, the biological one, when she’s sick, take delight in having dessert when she’s unable to eat anything. And they very very rarely have dessert, and when they do have dessert, its almost like it’s a public holiday, like Christmas or Easter.

I’m probably going to hold it in a Medievalesque setting, but I had originally thought of making it a more modern setting.

It’s about a kingdom on the brink of civil war, which is hit by a virus which causes people to become cannibals/vampires.

…And there ends my ability to write good summaries.

Essentially, the peasants are really scared, the Queen is going mad, and everyone is killing each other to try and stop the ‘vampires’.

It makes sense in my head!

I’m not sure whether to post it on a blog or be mad enough to try get it published. On one hand, I’m called Cat Madigan for a reason, on the other, I have limited self esteem as it is.

I’ll post the first part I’ve written sometime soon. When iPad can once again connect with the internet, I’ll be able to do it. When I do, pleaaaaaaase tell me if it’s shit or not, it would be great to have some idea of how I’m writing.